Bournemouth

Tasnim Chowdhury
BBC Sport journalist

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has been speaking to the media before Saturday's Premier League game against Manchester City (kick-off 15:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Alex Scott remains out with a long-term injury, while Kepa Arrizabalaga and Luis Sinisterra are not available for Saturday's match. Philip Billing is "training normally" after a spell of illness but Dango Ouattara may not be available.

• Tyler Adams is "training really well" after playing 20 minutes against Aston Villa last time out and is "in a good spot".

• On his side's confidence, Iraola said: "I don't think it's about confidence, I think it's about preparing as well as we can for the game. It's really going to be a difficult one, considering the position but trying to give us chances. I think the game we played here last season, it can be a good reference for us. They beat us 1-0 but I think we played quite well and we have to be very similar or even better to have any chance against them."

• On goalkeeper Mark Travers: "It's not a surprise for us, we know that level Mark has. I think this season the position has been quite solid, this is what they [the goalkeepers] have to do. It's not a matter of 'I play, you play'. All the goalkeepers are giving us a very good level, I hope we can continue with this in the same level."

• On the Cherries' record against City: "It's 14 games, 14 losses. There is a reason and also this year they are unbeaten in the Premier League, top of the table. It's not just difficult for Bournemouth, it's difficult for everyone. But we have to play against them twice a season so we have to maximise our options, give our best and see if it's enough."

• On Pep Guardiola's side: "They control the game and they choose sometimes when to push harder and when to control the game more, when to rest on the ball sometimes. If they feel the need, they normally have one more gear over the opposition and they have done it so consistently for so much time, it's because they are very good and they know what they are doing."

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Only Manchester City (179) and Tottenham (156) have had more shots than Bournemouth in the Premier League this season (140), with the Cherries’ average of 15.6 shots-per-game their highest in a single top-flight campaign.

But the weekend fixture may be tough for the shot-happy Cherries. Bournemouth have won none of their 20 league games against City (D2 L18). It’s the most one side has faced another without ever winning in English Football League history.

Mark Mitchener
BBC Sport senior journalist

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Buoyed by their last two results against Arsenal and Aston Villa, Bournemouth face their last unconquered Premier League opponent on Saturday - Manchester City.

While most Cherries fans would have bitten your hand off if you had offered them four points from Arsenal and Villa, City - historically at least - have been an entirely different prospect.

For, not only have Bournemouth failed to take a single point from 14 Premier League meetings with Pep Guardiola's sky blue giants (the best 100% record by one team against another in top-flight history), going back even earlier to six encounters in the Football League in the 1980s and 1990s, the Cherries have a further two draws, four defeats and no victories to their name.

That is comfortably an English professional football league record (20 meetings with one team not having recorded a single win), and one that will only keep stretching until Andoni Iraola's side upset the applecart.

Last season's game at Vitality Stadium was a gritty 1-0 win for City, who were content to clear their lines and run the clock down towards the end, rather than seek a second goal.

But, given Guardiola’s claims that he only has 13 fit players, and Iraola's men having spiked the Gunners' guns a fortnight ago, has there ever been a better chance to rid themselves of the City monkey on their back?

The vagaries of broadcasters' schedules also mean that implausibly, a game played on 2 November will be Bournemouth's first home Saturday 15:00 kick-off this season.

Sam Davis
Fan writer

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This season, seven of Bournemouth's 11 Premier League goals have been scored on or after 70 minutes, with eight of them being scored or assisted by substitutes, underlining the importance of every player in the squad - not just the starting XI.

Indeed, Andoni Iraola has previously suggested that he will not always start his "best" side against certain teams, so whilst a cursory glance at the teamsheet at 13:45 on Saturday caused more conjecture and conversation amongst supporters, Cherries fans once again learned that there is method to the "madness".

The regularity of these "mini masterstrokes" is now so metronomic that it has come to a point where we are actually questioning our own view of the beautiful game, because we often find ourselves looking back in hindsight realising that some of the decisions that were deployed actually do make sense after all. It is not just a fluke.

At Aston Villa on Saturday, Iraola even played Dango Ouattara and Antoine Semenyo on their "wrong" sides, but in a game where we would have needed to condense play and crowd the middle of the pitch, choosing wingers that naturally need to "cut in" actually made perfect sense when having to combat midfield maestros like McGinn, Onana and Tielemans.

Yes, Bournemouth rode their luck at times, plus we had the superb Mark Travers to thank, but the fact it took Villa so long to strike underlines that Iraola knows what he is doing with his selections.

And what changes did he make when we were compromised? He brought on the ever-effective Marcus Tavernier and the £40m man Evanilson, both of whom combined to see that we came away with a point.

Supporting Bournemouth is always exciting but, under Iraola, it is also an education.

Find more from Sam Davis at Back of the Net, external

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We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Aston Villa and Bournemouth.

Here are some of your comments:

Villa fans

Cassie: Bad defending cost Villa three points yet again. The game was there for the taking and fair play to Bournemouth for not giving up, which is what Villa did. Our midfield was outstanding but we still need to buy a proven striker, as Watkins is still not 100%. We need other results to go our way, as again this was a Champions League hangover.

Blakey: This is the toughness of the Premier League. One moment of switching off, one bad challenge, one bad decision etc and you are not getting the points you perhaps, on balance, deserved. Let's face it, even the most optimistic Villa fan will be slightly nervous about our inability to seal the deal here. Is it the beginning of a wobble? Maybe.

Jamie: Too many substitutes for my liking. When Ollie Watkins went off, we lost all of our shape and then struggled with possession in the last 15 minutes. But let's give some respect to Bournemouth - they never gave up. So, for once, I would say that Unai is responsible for making too many changes, which just makes him human!

Greg: We have to strengthen our right-back options. We were lucky not to give away a penalty and creatively everything comes from our left-hand side.

Bournemouth fans

Thomas: Yet another solid performance from the Cherries. I can imagine that if I were a Villa fan, I would feel a bit unfortunate - no thanks to that wonderful performance from Mark Travers. Having said that, I can't get my head around how that Leon Bailey handball wasn't given as a penalty. Four points from Arsenal and Villa - not bad for little old Bournemouth.

James: I think that was the most mature Cherries performance I have ever seen. If we play like that for the rest of the season, anything is possible!

Mel: AFC Bournemouth were fantastic today. They never gave up and kept pushing forward, even when going behind. So pleased for Evanilson with that goal. It was stunning, just like his first goal for us. Hopefully he will score many more goals this season. He is an exciting addition to Bournemouth after the departure of Solanke.

Mark: Wow, we are certainly raising eyebrows! Four points from Arsenal and now Villa - under Andoni Iraola we are rocketing up the league. I think we can seriously dream of European football in the next season or two, especially with commitment our team has right to the final whistle. Now let's beat Man City next week - no joke!

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Former Premier League striker Alan Shearer has been discussing Bournemouth's "clever" set-pieces on Match of the Day, after the Cherries grabbed a late point against Aston Villa thanks to a set-piece from a free kick.

"We saw them do the same thing against Arsenal, where they worked it really well," Shearer said. "Their plan in this game was actually going to the far post. They did it so many times but [Emi] Martinez had no problems with those balls because he loves that.

"If you are going to put a ball in to the far post like that, he will come and get them all afternoon.

"But then Evanilson comes on and Bournemouth changed their tactics, they tried something different. The first one didn't really work but they worked it quite well, and I think that should've been a warning sign for Aston Villa.

"The second one was in a similar sort of position and if Matty Cash comes five-yards further back, which he should have done because he was in no man's land, he would have been able to defend it.

"But Evanilson was just allowed to run off Jhon Duran and score. Rather than going to the far post again, Bournemouth instead worked the ball really well. It was a clever ball in, clever moment and a wonderful header.

"That then ends up getting them the point - they are clever from set-pieces."

Catch up on Match of the Day here

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's five Premier League fixtures, plus the best of the action from Friday's game between Leicester City and Nottingham Forest.

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Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Aston Villa 1-1 Bournemouth

• Everton 1-1 Fulham

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport journalist

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There was only one player of the match for the Cherries and that was back-up goalkeeper Mark Travers.

On Saturday usual stopper Kepa Arrizabalaga was a shock absentee after sustaining a muscle issue in training.

So stand-in keeper Travers was given his second start of the season, and his 20th overall in the Premier League, and impressed with a number of crucial saves.

Boss Iraola later told BBC Match of the Day that Travers kept the visitors in the game.

He was Bournemouth's key performer, along with second-half substitute Evanilson who only touched the ball nine times but still managed to make an all-important impact.

Travers made seven saves in all, including fine stops in each half to to repel thunderous efforts from Villa centre-backs Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres.

Should Kepa be out for an extended period, Bournemouth fans will and can be confident with the 25-year-old.

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Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers has been speaking to Premier League Productions about Evanilson's late leveller: "It was a special moment, especially so late in the game. A great ball by Travers and an even better header from Evanilson too.

"We are glad he got the goal and that he could celebrate with the fans. We all know that he is an amazing striker. It is never easy for someone to move to a new country. He doesn't speak English, but he has settled in well and hopefully he can build on that.

"We kept going to the end. We knew coming here would be a difficult game. We keep trying to do what we are doing. It was an open game, but we are happy with a point in the end.

"We are building on last season. The confidence is growing in the group and more results like this will kick us on. It was great to help the team out and, when I get called up, I try to help the team the best I can - so that's all I wanted to do today."

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There were seven yellow cards shown in the first half between Aston Villa and Bournemouth - no Premier League game has ever seen more in the first 45 minutes. Meanwhile, it is the first time this has happened more than once in a season, after Tottenham v Arsenal in September.

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day after his side clinched a draw at Villa Park: "It is always nice when you have a point at the end, in the last minute of the game. I don't feel we played well, but we competed well. We faced a very good team and they started better than us. It was difficult.

"We played better against Arsenal but we showed more character today. You feel intimidation here and it is tough to survive, but we kept in and got the draw."

On the penalty shouts from his team: "I don't want to talk about the referees. I prefer not to speak. After I was suspended, I prefer to start a clean slate."

On the equaliser coming from a well-worked set-piece: "Especially with the goalkeeper - everything we were putting on the second post, he was claiming. Luckily the last one was a difficult header, but it was a great goal in a great moment."

On Mark Travers' performance: "He made very good saves and kept us in the game when we were suffering. Everyone has stepped up and we finished much better."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

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